"open-heart" soon to become obsolete?

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Specializes in Too many to list.

Wow! Are there problems with rejecting horse or pig tissue?

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Wow! Are there problems with rejecting horse or pig tissue?

Not rejecting, but they only last for so long. Remember that humans out live horses and pigs.

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Specializes in tele, stepdown/PCU, med/surg.

Of course this is just talking about valve replacements, not coronary artery bypasses.

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We have several surgeons who are doing the minimally invasive valve replacement/repair surgeries. As far as I can remember though, all of them have been cannulated and put on bypass.

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Wow! Are there problems with rejecting horse or pig tissue?

Most surgeons will quote you about 5 years for tissue valves versus 20 years or more with mechanical valves. Several things play a factor in deciding what type of valves to use. If you have an early 40's patient, they'll often get the mechanical valve, because odds are they'll still be here in 5 years and not want to go through the surgery again for a new valve. If you have a 80's year old patient, docs may recommend tissue valve to them, partly because of age and life expectancy, but mostly because mechanical valve patients are on life long anticoagulant therapy. Coumadin in the 80 year who falls and breaks a hip is a nightmare.

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